


People Change

by theoldwillweep



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Modern Era, also i feel that a majority of the characters listed, are only mentioned - Freeform, don’t try to change my mind, jack is jealous whoah!!, katy and jack are bffs, please do not be upset, the delanceys are scum xoxo, there are background ships in here, there will be tw’s in the notes please read!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-10-14 10:43:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17507099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theoldwillweep/pseuds/theoldwillweep
Summary: When Davey gets a boyfriend, seemingly out of nowhere, Jack experiences an emotion that his friends undoubtedly believe is jealousy.





	People Change

**Author's Note:**

> tw: homophobic slurs, references to violence, references to non-consensual touching

        On a chilly October night, Jack Kelly sits outside on his fire escape, staring up at the moon as it beams down on him.

         He spares a glance at his surroundings, noticing the leaves scattered along the sidewalks in the pale moonlight. His brother, Crutchie, sits beside him in silence, snuggling closer into his thin jacket. 

         Breaking the silence, Crutchie says “Alright, Jack, I’m gonna head in.” He grabs his crutch from its place against the brick wall and proceeds towards the window, opening it enough for him to crawl in. “You don’t stay out here for too much longer, okay? You know how Dave gets about these things,” he says, waiting for a response.

         Jack chuckles, and replies with “Yeah, yeah, I know. Go get some sleep.”

         Seemingly satisfied with his answer, Crutchie crawls through the window, and pulls it shut once again.

         As Jack returned his attention to the moon, his thoughts wandered to Davey. He absolutely knew how Davey got about these “things”. He liked to scold Jack about staying up until all hours of the night, and told him that he only had himself to blame when he showed up to school, dead on his feet. Jack knew that this was true, but Davey himself wasn’t any better than him, in terms of how many hours of sleep he acquired each night. 

         Jack had first met Davey in their freshman year of high school, back when he was just “David”. He’d moved to the big city from a small town upstate with his family. Jack was immediately drawn to the lanky boy with dark, mousy hair and hazel eyes. He introduced himself as soon as he could, and dubbed the boy “Davey” faster than the boy could blink.

         Davey had begun to protest as soon as Jack uttered the name, but Jack simply ignored him. Jack was kind enough to introduce Davey to all of his friends, proudly announcing that the boy’s name was, in fact, “Davey”. Jack’s friend group was immense, and after hearing the name constantly, from so many different people, Davey had grown fond of it.

         Jack and Davey soon became the best of friends, attached at the hip. They made it a point to see each other as much as humanly possible, which resulted in nightly meetups on Jack’s fire escape. These rendezvous were often when Davey scolded Jack for being up so late, despite the fact that he himself was up that late too. 

         Whenever Jack brought this up, Davey would immediately come to his own defense, going down the list of all of the AP classes that he had, all of the tests he had to study for, all of the quizzes, all of the homework assignments, the projects— and he would rant about it until he was blue in the face. It was plain to see how stressed Davey was, so the subject of Davey’s sleep schedule was one that Jack didn’t touch often. 

         The familiar clang of someone walking up the stairs of the fire escape began to break through the silence of the night, and soon, Davey materialized next to him.

         “I can’t believe that you’re up this late,” Davey grumbled predictably, and took a seat next to Jack.

         Jack smiled and let out a small laugh, but remained silent otherwise. Davey seemed tense about something, as he so often was. However, his tension often eased during their fire escape chats. And there would often be, you know, _chatting._

Not knowing how to start, Jack sat through the silence uncomfortably, and it continued this way for a handful of minutes. Deciding that something was better than nothing, he opened his mouth to speak. Before any words could come out, however, Davey beat him to it.

         “Jack?” he asked, voice wavering.

         “Yeah, Dave?” Jack replied, curious to know what had his best friend so distraught. 

         “I...” he trailed off. Jack gave him a reassuring look, encouraging him to continue.

         “I got a boyfriend,” he finished, sucking in a breath. 

          _Oh_ , Jack thought, not really knowing how to respond. “Really? Who’s the lucky fella?” is what he decided on.

         When Davey didn’t reply, Jack turned his head to look at him. Davey’s gaze was trained straight ahead, not daring to meet Jack’s. “Dave?” he said.

         Davey squeaked a reply, barely audible. Jack moved closer. “Sorry, didn’t get that.”

         “Morris Delancey,” Davey said in a quiet, rushed voice. 

         “ _What?!_ ” Jack exclaimed, scrambling away. “What the _hell_ , Dave?!” he said. 

         Still, Davey didn’t meet his gaze. “I-“ he started, before Jack interrupted him.

         “Do you not remember how he and his asshole brother beat the shit out of Race? Mush? Crutchie? _You?_ ” he cried in a heated tone, struggling not to wake up the entire neighborhood. 

         “He apologized for all of that, he just-“ he began again.

         “Don’t tell me you actually _fell_ for that shit, Dave! Did he knock your brain loose when he soaked ya, or somethin’?!” he said, nearly yelling.

          “That was three _years_ ago, Jackie. People change,” he replied sharply. He sounded as if he had more to say on the matter, but he instead took a deep breath. He made his way over to the stairs, and paused. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” he said quietly, before rushing down the stairs. 

         Once Davey had disappeared down the dark streets, Jack let out a frustrated grunt, banging his fist against the railing.

         He looked up at the moon, bathing in its bright glow. The moon was often a comforting presence, but right now, it seemed as if it were jeering at him.

* * *

         

         The next morning, Jack was anything but pleased. Crutchie, observant as always, was quick to take note.

         “What’s got you in such a sour mood, Jack?” he asked as they both made their way into the kitchen.

         Crutchie fixed himself a bowl of cereal, while Jack opted for nothing. This was another thing that Davey often scolded him for. _You should really eat more, Jackie,_ Davey would say time and time again, displeased with how often his friend forgot to take care of himself. 

         “None of your business,” Jack snapped, scowl taking over his features. However, once he turned to his brother, his face immediately softened. “Sorry, Crutch,” Jack said, “But really, it’s nothing.”

         “You sure this ain’t got nothing to do with your chat with Davey last night?” Crutchie asked, and his words brought a look of shock to Jack’s face. 

         Evading the question, Jack quickly said “Come on, we’ll be late for school.”

         Crutchie chuckled, as the subject of their frequent tardiness has never seemed to concern Jack in the slightest.

         Jack made his way out to his beat up, old pickup truck. Crutchie made sure to grab an apple for his brother, and followed him out the door. 

* * *

         Throughout the day, Jack’s mind was plagued with thoughts of Davey.

         Or rather, Davey’s new boyfriend.

         Jack’s schedule had an unfortunate lack of Davey. This was something that Jack had detested, any day prior to this one. Now, however, Jack was finding himself grateful for it.

         It’s not that Jack was particularly mad at Davey, no. He just couldn’t wrap his head around the whole situation.

         When Davey was new to their school in freshman year, he was the Delanceys’ main target.

         Jack was unsure of how long their torment went on, but it wasn’t too long before they grew bored of Davey and moved onto their next victim.

         They bullied Davey for anything and everything. For being gay, for being Jewish, for being too smart, too tall, too nerdy, too this, too that.

         However, the extent of their harrowing didn’t end at a few harsh words. No, the physical violence was just as awful. 

         Bruises would often litter Davey’s arms, legs, torso. The Delanceys went to great lengths to ensure that the damage they inflicted wouldn’t be easily visible. 

         The subject of Davey’s bullying never reached past the ears of their tight-knit friend group, as Davey was too horrified to think of what the Delancey brothers would do to him, had they found out he’d told an authoritative figure. 

         This was something that drove Jack wild at the time, and it still did. Davey would show up on his fire escape at night, casually mentioning another run-in with the Delanceys, as if it were normal, _acceptable_. It drove Jack to the brink of madness. 

         Another thing that had driven Jack insane, was that Davey had refused his countless offers for help. _This is a battle that I have to face on my own,_ he would tell Jack every time, even though Jack insisted that it didn’t have to be.

         However, once Davey stopped giving them the satisfaction they desired, they moved on. The previous night on the fire escape was the first time that either of them had even mentioned it since it had stopped, three years ago.

         So, yeah, Jack was perplexed about the entire ordeal. Why had Davey been so quick to forgive them for everything they’d done to him and his friends?

         Another thing that bothered Jack was how the relationship came about in the first place.

         Back when Davey had been being bullied, it had often seemed like the violence he endured was mainly due to homophobia. 

         Jack zoned out for his entire history lesson, trying to solve the riddle of how a homophobic guy could become attracted to men seemingly overnight.

         Jack was out of his seat as soon as the bell rang, ready to get to his art class and propose the question to Racetrack instead. 

* * *

 

Jack and Racetrack sat silently at their shared table, working on their respective projects.

 _“_ You’s been real quiet, Jacky-boy. Not that I’s complainin’; it’s a nice vacation for my ears,” Race said, which earned him a shove from Jack.

 _“_ Like you’s one to talk, Racer,” Jack grumbled. “It’s just,” Jack started, pausing to choose his words, “Davey’s got himself a boyfriend, and-“

Before he could finish, Race interrupted with “And you’re jealous?”, a cheeky grin present on his face.

Jack shot him a look before saying “No, it’s _Morris_ _Delancey_.” Jack had a disgusted look on his face, waiting for Race to answer. Waiting for him to be just as furious as he had been the previous night.

         Race looked startled for a moment, then said “Your point is?” after a few beats. 

         Race’s remark had startled Jack almost as much as the initial news of Davey’s new significant other. 

         “What do you mean, ‘Your point is’? My _point_ is that it’s Morris Delancey!” Jack said, in a rage. At Race’s blank stare, he continued. “He and Oscar beat the shit out of you in 7th grade? Stole and hid Crutchie’s crutch from him? Am I ringing any bells?”

         Race sighed at Jack’s words before saying, “I don’t know, Jack, that was years ago. You really expect me to still be hung up on somethin’ that happened in 7th grade? People change, and we’re almost adults; we should start actin’ like it,” in a brief moment of maturity. 

         Jack stared at him in disbelief. “Ok, so you don’t care about what they did to you, fine. Still, they put Davey through the same shit in our freshman year, remember that? If Morris was so set on soakin’ Davey, why would he suddenly turn around and start datin’ the kid? It don’t make sense!” Jack exclaimed.

         Race rolled his eyes at Jack, huffing at him with annoyance. “It’s the same as when little boys tug on little girls’ hair on the playground; he liked him, and didn’t know how to show it,” Race stated as if it were obvious, or at all rational.

         At this, Jack looked impossibly more bewildered. He took a deep breath. “Okay, first of all, we ain’t in kindergarten. Second of all, if that was the case, then that would mean that Morris is lustin’ after every poor sucker he’s beat into the ground. Third of all, they’re _homophobic_!” Jack all but screamed.

         “Internalized homophobia?” Race offered. 

         Jack ran a hand down his face at this.

         “I don’t know, Jacky-boy. I still think you’s jealous,” Race said cheekily. 

         The bell rang, and with an indignant huff, Jack slung his bag over his shoulder and stormed out.

         “I’ll see you at lunch!” Race called after him, seemingly unfazed by Jack’s anger.

* * *

 

          Next was gym with Romeo. Jack silently prayed to himself that he’d be able to talk some sense into _him_ , at least.

         Exiting the locker room, Jack easily found Romeo in the gym, the boy’s bright red and blue socks making him stand out amongst the crowd of teenagers.

         Jack made his way over to Romeo, who greeted him with “What’s shakin’, JK?”

         “Please never say that again,” Jack said.

         “Noted,” Romeo smiled. “Now, what’s with that pouty look on ya face?” he inquired.

          _God_ , was it really that easy to read him?

          Starting the same spiel as he’d told Race, he started with, “Davey got himself a boyfriend.”

         At this, Romeo lit up. “Don’t get ya hopes up, kid, it’s _Morris_ _Delancey_ ,” Jack snarled.

         Romeo’s face fell, and Jack celebrated internally.

         His facial expression then shifted to one of confusion. “And?” he asked.

         Jack groaned, which earned him a glare from the gym teacher. With a sheepish smile, he began to toss a discarded basketball back and forth with Romeo, doing the bare minimum.

         “Do I really gotta remind ya what he and his brother have done to us?” Jack sighed, preparing to go on yet another long-winded rant.

         “No, no, I’m good. I just don’t get why you’re still upset, you know? It’s water under to bridge to me,” Romeo shrugged. “People change,” he said definitively. 

         Jack caught the ball as Romeo tossed it to him, but didn’t throw it back. Seriously, how many times were people going to tell him that?

          Yeah, people could change. But people who were notoriously assholes? No. Homophobic scumbags? Not likely. People could absolutely change, but typically not so drastically, and not so quickly, either; it just seemed off to Jack. This was a concern that he voiced to Romeo.

         “Alright. But what about how he harassed you and Specs in 8th grade because you’s was together? If he was so pissed at you two for being in a gay relationship, how the hell did he find himself in one of his own?” Jack inquired.

         Romeo, ever the romantic, offered “Maybe he was just upset because he felt that he couldn’t express himself as freely as we could! Maybe he was battling internalized homophobia, and took it out on other people!”, which was met with a blank stare from Jack.

         “I have hope for them,” Romeo smiled fondly, before gasping. “Maybe they’ll get married one day!” he gushed. Jack scoffed at this.

         Romeo turned his attention towards him, before donning a look of realization. “Oh. My. God. You’re jealous, ain’t ya?”

         “Oh, _God_ , not you too,” Jack groaned. 

         Romeo squealed, “Oh my God! I knew it! I _knew_ you liked Davey, ever since the day he turned up at this hellhole!”

         “What?” Jack asked, confused.

         Romeo didn’t reply, opting instead to bounce around Jack, saying “Jack is jealous! Jack is jealous!” in a sing-song voice.

         The gym teacher blew his whistle, signaling the end of class.

         Fed up with Romeo’s antics, Jack pushed past him, and into the lockeroom.

         Jack and Romeo began walking to the lunchroom after they changed, and Jack prayed to whatever higher being that was listening that lunch would be better than the rest of his day had been so far. 

* * *

         Upon entering the lunchroom, Jack saw that his wishes for a better day would not be rewarded.

         Sitting at their lunch table was Morris Delancey, arm casually slung around Davey’s shoulders.

         Everyone else at the table chatted with the two excitedly, unfazed by the intruder.

         Jack and Romeo made their way over to the table, Romeo taking his place next to Specs, while Jack stopped short.

         “You’re in my seat, Delancey,” Jack snarled. The excited chatter that had consumed the table ceased, and was instead replaced with a tense silence. All eyes turned from Jack to Morris, waiting to see how he would respond. 

         “Sorry, Jack, I’ll move,” Morris said, starting to rise.

         “Don’t worry about it, Morris!” Crutchie said with a smile, pulling Morris back down. “I saved a seat for Jack.” Crutchie turned to Jack with a pleading look in his eyes.

         Jack acquiesced, face still twisted into a scowl.

         Once Jack was seated, conversation resumed as if it had never been disturbed. 

         “So, how long have you two been together?” Mush prompted.

         The conversation continued on this narrow path, casual questions about them and their relationship scattered along the way. 

         Jack watched all of this unfold, scowl never faltering. Crutchie patted his back reassuringly as his brother stabbed at his cheap school lunch.

         Across from him, Race, Romeo, Specs, and Elmer snickered at his expense. Jack looked up with a questioning look.

         “You still jealous, Cowboy?” Race asked, and the four of them broke out into tiny snickers once again. Their teasing was met with a growl from Jack, who was unsure if he could take this anymore. 

         “You guys are unbelievable” he started. “You’re _all_ unbelievable!” Jack exclaimed, rising from his place at the table.

         “What are you on about, Jacky-boy?” Spot questioned from the end of the table.

         “I don’t get it! This guy has tormented us for _years_ with the help of his douchebag brother. Oh, but then he shows up claimin’ that he’s sweet on Davey, and you all fall for it! Are you seriously all that _gullible_?!

         “And I swear to _god_ , if one more person tells me that ‘people change’, I’m gonna lose it!” 

         Jack’s outburst is met with nothing but silence. 

         “What the _hell_ , Jackie?” Davey asks, voice slightly wavering. Jack meets his eyes, and the scowl drops from his face. His gaze breaks away from Davey’s, scanning the rest of his friends.

         Reading the mood of the table, Jack grabs his things, and promptly storms out of the lunchroom. 

         “I’ll go check on him,” Morris declares, already on his feet.

         Davey stops him by grabbing his hand.

         “Thank you, Morris. That’s really sweet of you,” Davey says, before squeezing the other boy’s hand. Morris flashes him a smile, then swiftly exits the room in search of Jack.

* * *

          Jack splashes water on his face, savoring the cool sensation.

         “That was some show you put on out there, _Jackie_.”

         Jack whips around and sees Morris standing in the doorway of the bathroom, sneering.

         “What the hell do you want, Morris?” Jack snaps.

         ”Whoah, cool it man, I’m just tryin’ to-“

         “Save it, asshole. I don’t wanna hear it.”

         “I just wanted to make sure that you were alright,” Morris said before Jack could interrupt him again.

         Jack fell silent, not knowing how to respond. “What?” he replied lamely.

         “You seemed pretty upset, is everything okay?” Morris asked, sounding concerned.

          Jack was dumbfounded. “No, everything is not ‘okay’! Where the hell do you get off thinking that it’s okay to so much as even _look_ at us after all the shit you’ve done?” he snapped.

         Morris scratched the back of his head, guiltily. “Look, just hear me out, okay? What me and my brother did to you all was real scummy, I know that now. I ain’t plannin’ on doin’ anythin’ like that again. You don’t have to forgive me, but I just want you to know how sorry I am.”

         All the fight was drained from Jack, as he continued to stare blankly at Morris.

         “I’ll just....” Morris trailed off, exiting the room.

         After Morris left, Jack contemplated over what just happened.

         Before Jack could mentally forgive Morris, a voice sounded in his head.

          _He_ _ain’t_ _really_ _sorry_ , _he’s_ _fakin_ ’ _it_!, the voice said.

         A newfound sense of anger took over Jack, believing the voice.

          _Yeah_ , _ain’t_ _no_ _way_ _that_ _bastard’s_ _tellin_ ’ _the_ _truth_ , Jack thought.

* * *

 

         That night, Jack stared at the blank canvas, brush in his hand.

         He let out a frustrated sigh, dropping his brush to the floor. A knock on his bedroom door startled him.

         Medda’s voice came drifting through the door. “Jack, baby, you should be headin’ to bed now.”

         “Soon, ma,” he replied.

         “Please don’t stay up all night again,” she pleaded, voice heavy with worry.

         Jack didn’t respond, and he heard her retreating footsteps.

         Jack sighed, and was startled yet again by a knock, this time from his window. 

         Turning, he saw Davey waiting outside.

         Jack made his way over to the window and opened it. Before he could speak, Davey asked, “Why aren’t you outside?”

         “I didn’t think you would show.”

         “Why wouldn’t I?” he responded quizzically.

         “I thought you’d be mad at me.”

         “Of course I’m mad at you.”

         “Then why are you here, Dave?”

         Davey stared at him for a few moments.

         “I don’t know,” he said, before climbing back down the stairs.

         “Wait, Dave!”

         Davey paused, but didn’t turn around.

         “I’m real sorry for my outburst. But I mean it, I think that Morris is tryin’ to trick ya,” he said, voice begging for Davey to see things as he saw them.

         Davey’s shoulders tensed. “We ain’t kids anymore, Jackie, so you should stop acting like it. People change, whether you like it or not,” he said bitterly, before resuming his descent down the stairs.

         Jack rested his head against the window as he watched Davey leave.

         Once Davey was out of sight, he slammed the window shut.

* * *

  **Kathy**

                            hey do u wanna go out with me

 _No_ , _but_ _I’m_ _coming_ _over_.

 _I’ll_ _be_ _there_ _in_ _10_.

* * *

         Unsurprisingly, there was a knock on Jack’s front door precisely ten minutes later.

          Sure enough, Katherine Pulitzer was revealed upon opening the door.

         “Ok, I brought ice cream and a shit-ton of snacks; what’s the deal?” 

         The pair made their way into Jack’s room. Sitting on Jack’s bed, they snacked in silence.

         “Seriously, are you going to tell me why you spontaneously asked me out or are you going to continue eating your feelings in silence?” Katherine inquired.

         “I don’t know, I figured I’d give it a shot,” he replied dumbly.

         Katherine Pulitzer. Jack and Kath’s friendship dated back to middle school, where she officially became apart of their friend group.

         Jack orginally knew her as Katherine “Plumber”. Jack, upon hearing Katherine’s awkward delivery of her surname, was immediately skeptical. However, he decided not to pry.

         Katherine was new to their school, coincidentally enrolling at the same time as they got a new principal, Mr. Joseph Pulitzer. Joe Pulitzer began his tyrannical rule over the school with an iron fist, making numerous changes that were deemed as downgrades by the entire student body. Increased lunch prices, shortened lunches, less time in between classes, etc. The worst change, however, was the dress code.

         Joe was very strict with the dress code, exclusively for young ladies. He had specific rules about what the girls were not supposed to show. No shoulders, no collarbones, no leg above the knee, no clevage, no “tight” clothing; the girls of Lower Manhattan Community Middle School were furious. 

         Jack didn’t know many girls at LMC, but the girls he did know were enraged. Katherine, Jojo, Smalls, Buttons. 

         Not enjoying seeing his friends in such an awful mood, he proposed a strike. A school-wide strike, where every student, regardless of gender, would break the dress code and demand that Mr. Pulitzer listen to them. 

         So, that’s exactly what they did. With help from Katherine, and the rest of their friend group, word of the strike spread to the whole school. 

         Every day for nearly a week, every kid would walk out of the school during their lunch period in clothes that were deemed “inappropriate” by Mr. Pulitzer, yelling about the new dress code.

         Pulitzer shut down the strike, but not before agreeing to make a deal. The dress code would remain intact, but it would be made to be much more flexible.

         Throughout their strike, Jack had developed an ever-growing crush on Katherine. That was until-

         “Jack, you know I’m a lesbian.”

         Precisely.

         Jack remained silent, twiddling his fingers.

         “I _know_ that you wouldn’t actually forget that, so, really, what’s going on?”

         More silence from Jack.

         “Jack,” she tried sternly, but was only met with more silence. Instead, she tried placing her hand over Jack’s.

         “Is this about Davey getting a boyfriend?” she asked softly.

         Jack sighed, resting his face in his hand. “It’s not _just_ because he’s got a boyfriend. It’s because it _Morris_ ,” he replied, finally. 

         “Ah. And you’re not his biggest fan, still, I’m guessing?” Kath asked, receiving a nod from Jack. 

         “Oh!” Katherine said. Jack raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been meaning to ask; what happened after he went to go find you yesterday?”

         “Ugh. He made the most _asshole_ move,” Jack started. Kath looked at him expectantly. “He _apologized_.”

         “....You can’t be serious.”

         “What?”

         “What about apologizing makes him an asshole? Have I been wrong my entire life in thinking that it makes you the exact opposite?”

         “No, i-it’s the way he _said_ it!”

         “So how did he say it, then?”

         Jack relayed the whole story of the bathroom encounter, and Kath stared at him, astonished.

         “...I still don’t see the problem,” Katherine said.

          “What?!” Jack exclaimed.

          “As far as I can tell, that apology seems perfectly legitimate. Personally, I think that you just have a long-winded grudge against him that you don’t want to let go in fear of admitting that you’re wrong,” she stated simply.

          “What? That’s ridicu-“ Jack stooped mid-sentence. He contemplated Kath’s words carefully. A feeling of shame began to wash over him.

         “Oh, God, I think you’re right,” he said.

         “You’ll be okay,” she smiled.

         She patted his back, and they relapsed into a tense silence.

         “You still seem upset,” Kath observed. 

         Jack put his face into his hands.

         “Are you still upset about Morris?”

         He shook his head.

         “...Is it about Davey?”

         He pressed his face further into his hands.

         “...Are you jealous?” she smirked.

         Jack’s head snapped up from its place in his hands. “Okay, it’s time for you to go.”

         Katherine giggled all the way to the door. “Call me if you wanna talk!” she shouted before he shut the door in her face.

         He leaned back against the door.

         So, maybe he was jealous.

* * *

 

         The next morning, in art class, Jack and Race worked in silence yet again.

         “So, I think I’m jealous,” Jack said.

         Race burst out into laughter. “Ha! I knew it! Conlon owes me $20!” he said, which earned him a shove from Jack.

* * *

 

         That night, Jack layed on his bed, pondering his newly discovered crush on Davey.

         Now that he thought about it, he scolded himself for being so blind.

         Since the day that he first laid eyes on Davey, he was infatuated with the boy. His soft hazel eyes, hooked nose, plush lips...

         Now Jack couldn’t stop thinking about him. He groaned, and ran a hand down his face; Crutchie chose this moment to walk through the door, holding two mugs of hot chocolate.

         “Whattya groanin’ about?” Crutchie pried. 

         “I like Davey,” he replied.

         “I know.”

         “I wanna kiss him so bad, Crutch.”

         “I _know_.”

         “Wait, what do you mean?” Jack asked, taking one of the mugs from Crutchie.

         Crutchie rested his crutch against the bed before taking a seat next to his brother. “I _mean_ that you ain’t sly, genius.”

         “What?!” Jack shrieked in response. “Does that mean everyone knows?!”

         “Absolutely.”

         Jack adopted a look of sheer horror. “...Do you think Davey knows?”

         Crutchie laughed at this, taking a sip of his cocoa. “Jack, Dave wouldn’t know that you liked him even if you screamed it right in his face.”

         Speaking of Davey, Jack glanced at the time. Noticing that it was way past Davey’s usual visiting hours, he sighed.

         “I think I fucked up, Crutch.”

* * *

 

         For the next couple of weeks, Jack was forced to watch Davey and Morris interact. _Romantically_.  

         Every time he saw them together, he got an awful sinking feeling in his stomach. On top of that, every time he looked directly at Davey, his heart would begin to race.

         His friends enjoyed laughing at his expense, teasing him every chance they got about Davey.

         Jack still felt bad about being skeptical of Morris; holding grudges is what he does best. In middle school, he didn’t talk to Kath for a week once he found out who her father was. He would have gone longer, but Kath confronted him about it, calling him “stupid”.  

         Knowing that Davey was still upset with him for the same reason, he felt even worse; deciding enough was enough, he approached Davey.

         “Hey, Dave, I just wanted to say sorry for yellin’ at ya about Morris. I thought about it some more, and I think that he really has changed for the better. Seriously, I’m real sorry, I hope you can forgive me,” he said after catching up with Davey after school.

         Davey stared at him for a few moments, before saying “Oh, thank _god_. I didn’t know how much longer I could stay mad at you; of course I’ll forgive you, Jackie.” He looked into Jack’s eyes, smiling fondly.

         “On one condition: you apologize to Morris, too,” he tacked on.

         “Do I gotta, Dave?”

         “I really like him, Jackie. We might be, you know, _serious_.” Jack’s façade cracked at this, face dropping. He quickly regained his composure. 

         Jack groaned. “Fine,” he said with a smile.

* * *

 

         The next day, Jack caught Morris after school.

         “Hey, Morris!” The boy in question turned around as he was approaching the exit.

         Once Jack reached him, he immediately set. “I’s real sorry about blowin’ up at you. It means a lot that you apologized; forgive me?”

         “Of course I’ll forgive you, _Jackie_ ,” Morris jeered.

         Noticing the malice laced within the other boy’s word, Jack stuttered out “W-What?”

         “Honestly, I’m so sick of you and your _fag_ friends. All I wanted was a quick fuck, not all of this shit.”

         “What?” Jack repeated, barely processing what he was hearing.

         “Your little fag boyfriend is so much more work than I expected him to be. We’ve been on like, seven dates, and he still won’t let me fuck him.” Morris chuckled. “Whatever, once I’m done with him, I’ll toss him to the curb. Maybe I’ll let Oscar have his fun with him, if he’s not too repulsed by the idea of touching a filthy _queer_ ,” Morris sneered.

         Jack shoved him, now seeing red. “Don’t you lay a _finger_ on him, or I’ll-“

         “You’ll what? _Tell_ _on_ _me_?” he mocked. “Please. It’s not like he’s even gonna believe you. You saw how quick he was to leave you for me, don’t think he won’t do it again.”

         Jack was fuming, barely able to contain his rage.

         “Bye-bye, _Jackie_ ,” Morris jeered, slithering out of the building.

* * *

 

         That night, Davey showed up at the fire escape for the first time in weeks. 

         “Hey, Jackie!” Davey greeted cheerfully, taking his place next to Jack.

         “....Jack?” Davey asked when he got no response from him.

         “He’s lyin’ to you, Dave.”

         “Oh, not this again-“

         “Seriously, Dave, he _told_ me-“

         “Why the hell do you keep doing this, Jack? What is your problem?! Why can’t you just let me have this?!”

         Jack didn’t respond.

         “...Is it because I’m gay?”

         “No, Dave, you know it ain’t like that-“

         “Then what the hell is it, Jack?!”

         “I told you!”

         “You’re unbelievable,” Davey said, rising from his place on the floor. 

         Jack grabbed his hand. “Please, Dave, you gotta believe me! You shoulda heard all the awful stuff he was sayin’!”

         Davey yanked his hand out of Jack’s grip.

         Wordlessly, Davey walked down the stairs, disappearing from Jack’s sight.

         Jack flopped against the wall, letting his head fall into his hands.

* * *

 

         Every night after that, Jack would always wait for Davey on the fire escape.

         Exactly a week after the last incident on the fire escape, Jack sat outside, looking up at the moon.

         He thought about what exactly he had done to deserve this. It seemed that couples were forming all around him. Kath and Davey’s sister, Sarah, Romeo and Specs, Race and Spot, even his own _brother_ , with Finch.

         He was miserable, and Davey was still continuing to be used by Morris.

         Then, Jack heard someone ascending the steps of the fire escape.

         Tensing up, he prepared to face the intruder.

         The last thing he expected, however, was for Davey to appear. He could barely see his face in the darkness, but it was unmistakeably Davey.

         “Dave, whattya doin’ here?”

         No response, as Davey took a seat next to him. 

         Jack listened closer, and heard Davey sniffling.

         “What’s wrong Dave? Look at me.” 

         Davey turned his head towards Jack, his face catching the moonlight perfectly. Jack began to admire his beauty, but stopped short once he caught a glimpse of the large, purple bruise that was beginning to form on the side of his face.

         “Whoah, Dave! Who gave ya that shiner?” Jack asked, though he was positive he already knew the answer.

         At Jack’s words, Davey immediately began to break down. He buried his head in Jack’s neck, chest heaving with sobs.

         “T-They attacked m-me. Both o-of them,” he managed through his sobs and hiccups.

         Jack pet his hair comfortingly, quietly shushing him. “Start from the beginning, Dave.” Davey’s sobs lessened as he began to relive what happened.

         “Morris asked me to come over, so I did,” he began, wiping the tears from his face. “He started to touch me, and didn’t listen when I told him to stop. I told him that I didn’t want to sleep with him and he stopped. But then, he called Oscar in, and they beat the shit out of me.” He chuckled, though neither of them found the situation humorous.

         Jack continued to comfort him, stroking his arm slowly.

         “...I’m sorry, Jack. For not listening to you, for being so awful to you.”

         “Don’t you dare apologize, Davey. This ain’t your fault. It ain’t a bad thing to have faith in people.”

         “‘People change’. Pretty stupid of me to think that, huh?” he laughed at his own expense. 

         “That’s where you’re wrong, Dave. I think people _can_ change, with help from the right people. The Delanceys are assholes; they don’t want no help from no one, and that’s why they ain’t ever gonna change.”

          Davey sighed, leaning back against Jack. “Jackie?”

         “Yeah, Dave?”

         “Thanks, again.”

         “Don’t mention it, Dave,” Jack replied, pressing a kiss to the other boy’s head. 

* * *

 

         When Jack and Davey showed up to lunch holding hands, not many were surprised.

         “Cough it up, ladies!” Race bellowed as Jack and Davey took a seat at the table.

         Groaning, Albert, Spot, and Blink pushed their money towards Race, who was grinning deviously.

         “I had hope for you kids since the beginnin’,” Race said, counting his money.

         “I did, too,” Jack said, pressing a kiss to a smiling Davey’s cheek.     

 

          

**Author's Note:**

> hello everyone! once again, thank you so much for reading, i hope you enjoyed!
> 
> this is a lot longer that i originally planned for it to be, and took me way too long! but here it is!
> 
> also i’m sorry for skimping out so much on the ending??? i tired :(
> 
> i originally wanted to have like!! a big kiss!!! but it didn’t feel natural after what transpired so i just left it?? i hope that’s okay, sorry y’all!
> 
> anyways, have a lovely day/afternoon/evening/night!


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